title: Molecular cloning, expression, and in silico structural analysis of guinea pig IL-17.
abstract: Interleukin-17A (IL-17A) is a potent proinflammatory cytokine and the signature cytokine of Th17 cells, a subset which is involved in cytokine and chemokine production, neutrophil recruitment, promotion of T cell priming, and antibody production. IL-17 may play an important role in tuberculosis and other infectious diseases. In preparation for investigating its role in the highly relevant guinea pig model of pulmonary tuberculosis, we cloned guinea pig IL-17A for the first time. The complete coding sequence of the guinea pig IL-17A gene (477 nucleotides; 159 amino acids) was subcloned into a prokaryotic expression vector (pET-30a) resulting in the expression of a 17 kDa recombinant guinea pig IL-17A protein which was confirmed by mass spectrometry analysis. Homology modeling of guinea pig IL-17A revealed that the three-dimensional structure resembles that of human IL-17A. The secondary structure predicted for this protein showed the presence of one extra helix in the N-terminal region. The expression profile of IL-17A was analyzed quantitatively in spleen, lymph node, and lung cells from BCG-vaccinated guinea pigs by real-time PCR. The guinea pig IL-17A cDNA and its recombinant protein will serve as valuable tools for molecular and immunological studies in the guinea pig model of pulmonary TB and other human diseases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbial and Molecular Pathogenesis, College of Medicine, Texas A&M Health Science Center, College Station, TX, 77843-1114, USA, drdirisala@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Vijaya R
authors.initials: VR
authors.lastname: Dirisala
authors.forename: Amminikutty
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jeevan
authors.forename: Suresh K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Ramasamy
authors.forename: David N
authors.initials: DN
authors.lastname: McMurray
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005822:Genetic Vectors; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D006801:Humans; D020381:Interleukin-17 / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D008168:Lung / Q000378:metabolism; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000378:metabolism; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D008957:Models, Genetic; D010802:Phylogeny; D011487:Protein Conformation; D017433:Protein Structure, Secondary; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013154:Spleen / Q000378:metabolism; D058504:Th17 Cells
chemical_list: D020381:Interleukin-17; D011994:Recombinant Proteins